Academic Forum 21
2003-04
Baseball's Worst Team
Fred Worth Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Abstract - In this paper we will look at some of the worst teams in baseball history and try to decide which team was indeed the worst. We will look at some statistics that will compare the teams to the teams of their day to try to account for the differences in eras. Introduction Much discussion is heard regarding who the best player, hitter, pitcher, etc. in baseball history may have been. There is not typically a lot of discussion on who the worst in any of these categories may be. The 2003 season changed that a little bit due to the incredible futility displayed by the Detroit Tigers. In this paper, we will look at some of the worst teams in baseball history and see if, indeed, the Tigers qualify. Preliminary Criteria The first consideration needs to be what criteria we will use to make our determination of the worst team. Certainly the teams win-loss record and winning percentage should be considered. Since the word "worst" implies a comparison, we should also look a how far the teams finished out of first place and, to see how truly bad they were, how far they finished behind the next-tolast-place team. Candidates The following table lists the teams we will consider for the designation as the worst team in baseball history. There have been other teams that were very bad. Obviously the choice of candidates is fairly arbitrary, however, most would agree that these nine teams were rather bad. Games out of: Next to Year Team League W L PCT First Last 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys National 23 113 .169 66.5 23 1899 Cleveland Spiders National 20 134 .130 84 35 1904 Washington Senators American 38 113 .252 55.5 23.5 1916 Philadelphia Athletics American 36 117 .235 54.5 40 1935 Boston Braves National 38 115 .248 61.5 26 1941 Philadelphia Phillies National 43 111 .279 57 19 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates National 42 112 .273 54.5 12.5 1962 New York Mets National 40 120 .250 60.5 18 2003 Detroit Tigers American 43 119 .265 47 (58) 25 (20) The 2003 Detroit Tigers are the only team under consideration that played during the division era. In the "Games out of" columns, the first numbers refer to games behind in their division. The numbers in parentheses refer to games behind the best and next-to-worst records in the league. 1
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At this point, two of these teams deserve special recognition. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders had the fewest wins, most losses and lowest percentage. They also finished farther out of first place than any other team. But the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics should also be recognized for finishing farthest behind the next worst team in the league. The Washington Senators were the only other team in the league that won fewer than half of its games that year but their record was a comparatively outstanding 76-77. Mitigating Circumstances Several of the teams have circumstances that would explain why they were so bad. The 1962 Mets were a first year expansion team so it is no surprise that they were bad. The 1916 Athletics were bad because Connie Mack, their owner/manager, had a regular habit of selling or trading all of his good players after they started making high salaries. One of those purges occurred after the 1914 season. Probably the most interesting story involves the 1899 Spiders. Prior to the season, their owners, Frank and Matthew Robison, had purchased the St. Louis Browns. They then sent all of the Spiders' good players to the Browns. That included Cy Young who, in 1899, won 26 games, 6 more than the entire Spiders team. They were so bad that their fans wouldn't come to the games. They had a total of only 6,088 fans attend games they played at home. They lost 40 of their last 41 games. For their last game, they recruited Eddie Kolb, a hotel cigar counter clerk, to pitch. He lost 19-3 in his only major league appearance. Good Players It should be noted that these teams were not all completely bereft of quality players. Consider the following list of players from some of the teams. This list is, again, very subjective. Year 1890 1899 1904 1916 1935 1941 1952 Team Pittsburgh Alleghenys Cleveland Spiders Washington Senators Philadelphia Athletics Boston Braves Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Good Players (age) none none none Joe Bush (23) Nap Lajoie (41) Wally Berger (29) Babe Ruth (40) Rabbit Marranville (43) Chuck Klein (36) Dick Groat (21) Ralph Kiner (29) Gus Bell (23) Bob Friend (21) Murry Dickson (35) Richie Ashburn (35) Gene Woodling (39)
1962
New York Mets
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2003-04 Gil Hodges (38) Gus Bell (33) Ed Kranepool (17) Bobby Higginson (32) Dmitri Young (29) Dean Palmer (34) Steve Avery (33)
2003
Detroit Tigers
It should be noted that, while these teams had some players who had successful careers, most of these were either not yet in their prime (Groat, Kranepool, Friend, Bush, Bell) or were past their prime (Lajoie, Ruth, Marranville, Klein, Dickson, Ashburn, Woodling, Hodges, Bell, Higgonson, Palmer, Avery). Berger, Kiner and Young are the only ones who could be said to have been in the prime years of their careers when they were on these teams. Special recognition should go to Gus Bell, patriarch of one of baseball's all-time great families, for managing to be on two of these horrible teams. Also, special note should be taken of the presence in the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys' lineup of Billy Sunday, better known as one of the 20th century's leading evangelists, and the 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates roster which included the well known broadcaster, Joe Garagiola. Individual Performance It is not a surprise to find that very few of the players from these teams managed to be among the league leaders in any good categories while many can be found among the leaders in bad categories. The following finished in the top three in the league. Team 1899 Spiders 1904 Senators 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1935 Braves 1935 Braves 1935 Braves 1941 Phillies 1941 Phillies 1941 Phillies 1941 Phillies 1941 Phillies 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1962 Mets 2003 Tigers 2003 Tigers Good Hitting Player Category Joe Quinn at bats Joe Cassidy triples Whitey Witt triples Wally Schang home runs Wally Berger total bases Wally Berger home runs Wally Berger runs batted in Bobby Bragan games Danny Litwhiler Hits Danny Murtaugh stolen bases Stan Benjamin stolen bases Joe Marty sacrifice hits Ralph Kiner home runs Ralph Kiner walks Richie Ashburn walks Alex Sanchez stolen bases Ramon Santiago sacrifice hits 3 Rank 3 1 3 3 3 1 1 2 3 1 2 2 1 1 3 2 1
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Team 1904 Senators 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1941 Phillies 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1962 Mets 2003 Tigers Team 1890 Alleghenys 1899 Spiders 1899 Spiders 1899 Spiders 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1904 Senators 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1916 Athletics 1935 Braves 1935 Braves 1935 Braves 1935 Braves
Good Pitching Player Category Case Patten saves Elmer Myers strikeouts Elmer Myers complete games Joe Bush complete games Joe Bush shutouts Ike Pearson games Murry Dickson innings pitched Murry Dickson games started Murry Dickson complete games Al Jackson shutouts Jamie Walker games Bad Pitching Player Category Kirtley Baker hit batters Charlie Knepper home runs allowed Jim Hughey losses Jim Hughey earned runs allowed Happy Townsend walks allowed Case Patten hits allowed Happy Townsend losses Beany Jacobson losses Case Patten losses Case Patten earned runs allowed Happy Townsend earned runs allowed Happy Townsend wild pitches Case Patten hit batters Elmer Myers home runs allowed Elmer Myers walks allowed Joe Bush walks allowed Elmer Myers hits allowed Joe Bush losses Elmer Myers losses Jack Nabors losses Elmer Myers earned runs allowed Joe Bush wild pitches Elmer Myers wild pitches Elmer Myers hit batsmen Ben Cantwell losses Ed Brandt losses Bob Smith losses Fred Frankhouse earned runs allowed 4
Rank 1 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 Rank 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 3 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 1
Academic Forum 21 1941 Phillies 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1952 Pirates 1962 Mets 1962 Mets 1962 Mets 1962 Mets 2003 Tigers 2003 Tigers 2003 Tigers 2003 Tigers 2003 Tigers 2003 Tigers Ike Pearson Murry Dickson Murry Dickson Howie Pollet Murry Dickson Bob Friend Murry Dickson Bob Friend Roger Craig Roger Craig Al Jackson Roger Craig Mike Maroth Mike Maroth Jeremy Bonderman Nate Cornejo Mike Maroth Jeremy Bonderman
2003-04 hit batters home runs allowed hits allowed home runs allowed losses losses earned runs allowed wild pitches home runs allowed losses losses earned runs allowed home runs allowed losses losses losses earned runs allowed wild pitches 1 1 2 3 1 3 1 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 2
It is not at all surprising that we find many of these teams having the league leader in losses. The 1890 Alleghenys and the 1941 Phillies are the only teams that did not have at least one pitcher in the top three in losses. The other seven all had at least the league leader. It should be noted that the 1935 Braves had a pitcher tied for 4th in the league in losses in addition to having the top 3. What is surprising is the lack of anyone from any of these teams in the top three among negative offensive statistics. Sharing the Load The teams all did a good job of passing the losses around among the pitchers. Year 1890 1899 1904 1916 1935 1941 1952 1962 2003 Team Pittsburgh Alleghenys Cleveland Spiders Washington Senators Philadelphia Athletics Boston Braves Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates New York Mets Detroit Tigers Most W 4 4 14 15 11 9 14 10 9 Most L 19 30 26 24 25 14 21 24 21 Pitchers with at least: 10 L 13 L 17 L 20 L 2 2 1 0 5 4 4 2 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 3 5 5 4 1 7 4 0 0 4 3 2 1 5 4 4 2 4 3 3 1
The 1890 Alleghenys had 20 different pitchers get at least one loss. Eleven of those had at least five. Mike Maroth, the 21 game loser for the 2003 Tigers, was the first 20 game loser since
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1980, ending the longest such drought in major league history. Compared to the League To determine which team is the absolute worst, more than just wins and losses should be included. We should look at more than just how far behind other teams they were. Let us now look at the teams batting averages, earned run averages, and fielding percentages. Realizing that baseball has changed dramatically over the years, we will not just look at the raw numbers. We will compare each team's averages with those of the league. To truly compare the team to the rest of the league, we will remove that team's statistics from the league total. These tables are sorted by the percentage of the league average. Fielding Average Year 1890 1916 1904 1962 1952 1899 2003 1941 1935 Team Pittsburgh Alleghenys Philadelphia Athletics Washington Senators New York Mets Pittsburgh Pirates Cleveland Spiders Detroit Tigers Philadelphia Phillies Boston Braves league .932 .967 .960 .976 .977 .942 .983 .972 .969 team .896 .952 .951 .967 .970 .937 .978 .969 .967 team rank 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 10 of 10 8 of 8 9 of 12 14 of 14 7 of 8 6 of 8 team rank 12 of 12 8 of 8 14 of 14 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 9 of 10 team rank 12 of 12 8 of 8 14 of 14 8 of 8 as % of league 96.1 98.4 99.1 99.1 99.3 99.5 99.5 99.7 99.8 as % of league 63.6 73.7 73.7 75.1 76.2 76.5 77.2 77.7 84.2 as % of league 88.8 89.2 89.2 90.2
Runs per game Year 1899 1941 2003 1890 1904 1916 1952 1935 1962 Team Cleveland Spiders Philadelphia Phillies Detroit Tigers Pittsburgh Alleghenys Washington Senators Philadelphia Athletics Pittsburgh Pirates Boston Braves New York Mets league 5.40 4.38 4.95 5.76 3.65 3.79 4.30 4.84 4.55 team 3.44 3.23 3.65 4.33 2.78 2.90 3.32 3.76 3.83
Batting Average Year 1899 1890 2003 1952 Team Cleveland Spiders Pittsburgh Alleghenys Detroit Tigers Pittsburgh Pirates league 0.285 0.257 0.269 0.256 team 0.253 0.230 0.240 0.231
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Academic Forum 21 1962 1904 1941 1935 1916 New York Mets Washington Senators Philadelphia Phillies Boston Braves Philadelphia Athletics 0.263 0.247 0.260 0.279 0.249 ERA Year 1890 1899 1904 1916 1941 1935 1962 1952 2003 Team Pittsburgh Alleghenys Cleveland Spiders Washington Senators Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia Phillies Boston Braves New York Mets Pittsburgh Pirates Detroit Tigers league 3.22 3.63 2.45 2.68 3.51 3.89 3.82 3.60 4.47
2003-04 0.240 0.227 0.244 0.263 0.242 10 of 10 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 team rank 8 of 8 12 of 12 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 10 of 10 8 of 8 13 of 14 91.2 91.9 93.8 94.3 97.2 as % of league 185.4 175.5 147.8 146.3 145.9 143.2 131.9 129.2 118.6
team 5.97 6.37 3.62 3.92 5.12 5.57 5.04 4.65 5.30
Not surprisingly, in nearly every case, our candidates for the all-time worst team, finished last in their league in each statistical category we are considering. The exceptions are in fielding average (1899 Cleveland Spiders, 1935 Boston Braves, 1941 Philadelphia Phillies), runs per game (1962 New York Mets) and ERA (2003 Detroit Tigers). From these charts we see that offense is the main reason the Tigers did so poorly. Their ERA and fielding average were not as dramatically bad compared to their runs per game and batting average. For flat out pathetic baseball, it seems like the worst team has to be the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. They scored nearly two runs per game less than the league average and had an ERA over 2.5 runs worse than the average. Suppose, we restrict ourselves to the "modern" era of baseball. We first need to decide what that means. For our purposes, we will consider the 1935 Braves to be the first modern (post deadball) era team in our collection. Fielding Average Year 1962 1952 2003 1941 1935 Team New York Mets Pittsburgh Pirates Detroit Tigers Philadelphia Phillies Boston Braves league .976 .977 .983 .972 .969 Runs per game team .967 .970 .978 .969 .967 team rank 10 of 10 8 of 8 14 of 14 7 of 8 6 of 8 as % of league 99.1 99.3 99.5 99.7 99.8
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2003-04 team rank 14 of 14 8 of 8 8 of 8 8 of 8 9 of 10 team rank 14 of 14 8 of 8 10 of 10 8 of 8 8 of 8 team rank 8 of 8 8 of 8 10 of 10 8 of 8 13 of 14 as % of league 73.737 73.744 77.2 77.7 84.2 as % of league 89.2 90.2 91.2 93.8 94.3 as % of league 145.9 143.2 131.9 129.2 118.6
Year 2003 1941 1952 1935 1962
Team Detroit Tigers Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Boston Braves New York Mets
league 4.95 4.38 4.30 4.84 4.55
team 3.65 3.23 3.32 3.76 3.83
Batting Average Year 2003 1952 1962 1941 1935 Team Detroit Tigers Pittsburgh Pirates New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies Boston Braves league 0.269 0.256 0.263 0.260 0.279 ERA Year 1941 1935 1962 1952 2003 Team Philadelphia Phillies Boston Braves New York Mets Pittsburgh Pirates Detroit Tigers league 3.51 3.89 3.82 3.60 4.47 team 5.12 5.57 5.04 4.65 5.30 team 0.240 0.231 0.240 0.244 0.263
In this collection, it looks like it comes down to the 2003 Tigers and the 1941 Phillies. Neither one did a very good job of scoring runs, though the Phillies did a good bit better in batting average. However, due to the team earned run averages, it looks like the Phillies "win" the title of worst team of the modern era. Conclusion Obviously much of what we discussed here is very subjective. Good arguments could be made for any of these teams as being the worst of all time. Surely other teams, which were not considered here, also have some claim to the title. For example, practically every Chicago Cubs team since the days of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" could probably be included. But, of course, this and other arguments over statistics are what make baseball the best game in the world. Bibliography Baseball-Reference.Com. [Online] Available http://www.baseball-reference.com, 29 NOV 03. Nash, Bruce and Zullo, Allen. The Baseball Hall of Shame. New York City : Wallaby Books, 1985.
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Academic Forum 21 BIOGRAPHY
2003-04
Fred Worth received his B.S. in Mathematics from Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri, in 1982. He received his M.S. in Applied Mathematics in 1987 and his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1991 from the University of Missouri at Rolla. He has been teaching at Henderson State University since August 1991 and is a member of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research.
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